August Twelfth

Headed to the Vet ...

2017-01-19T18:52:00.001-05:00

We started off our week in PreSchool by heading to the Veterinarian's Office.

Okay. So we didn't literally go to the Veterinarian's Office, but we sure had a great time pretending that we did.

Monday we started off our day by asking what it might be like when a baby animal has to visit the doctor's office. We talked about different reasons why they might need to go, what the doctor might say, what kinds of tools they would use. We picked out a few stuffed animals from the PlayRoom and grabbed Khloe's Doctor Kit. Kohen and Khloe had so much fun! Way more than I expected they would. This activity was so simple and yet they played and played and played. Mother Goose Time always gives us great ideas for activities that will use their imagination.

After we closed up our Veterinarian's Office for the day, we immediately had to re-open our doors because an animal broke a bone. And of course, we had to make a cast for this poor baby animal. It was that puppy up there in particular. Imaginary broken bone leads to a cast leads to ...

PAPER MACHE!

We were given a Recipe Card from MGT to mix up the ingredients needed to make our paste. I only had whole wheat flour on hand, ha! So it was a little brown, but oh boy!! This was ooey and gooey and messy and fun! I watched Khloe mush her fingers all around and just laugh!

So in this activity we explored how a doctor would make a cast for a broken bone. And we made our own "casts". Besides the fact that I ended up having to wash this blanket, twice, this was tons of fun!

After we made our casts, we had to administer some medicine!

Y'all, this activity was hysterical! We changed out the picture on our Mother Goose Time cube to piggies. Each side had a different number of piggies, we rolled the cube and whatever number we landed on was the number of piggies who needed medicine. In our bag for the day was included a dropper, so we filled a cup with water and after each roll we squirted that number of piggies with "medicine".

I think this was Kohen's favorite activity. He has asked to play this game multiple times since Monday. He's learning. He's having fun!

I want to note how many skills we accomplished in just one day with Mother Goose Time. In just these few activities, we did science, mathematics, practiced fine motor skills and art.

So many skills covered in just a few activities, another reason why I love doing MGT with my kiddos!

Please note: I received these materials and resources from Mother Goose Time free of charge in exchange for me telling all about our experiences using their materials.

You can check out their website here.

www.mothergoosetime.com

Make and Play ...

2017-01-13T23:12:00.001-05:00

There is so much to each box of Mother Goose Time!

So I want to highlight one of our favorite activities we do in this post.

It's the Make and Play!

A Make and Play activity consist of three parts:

1. a card showing an example of what the project could look like

2. supplies to make the project however the child would like to

3. an activity for the child to do with the project they made

I love the Make and Play activities! These allow the child to focus on making something and then to use the energy they've been saving up while sitting still to use their creation in action.

On Monday we made Fishy Cups.

Kohen seems to always surprise me when we do school. Each day this week I started each lesson by asking Kohen and Khloe if they knew of any animals that carried their babies like .... whatever way we talked about that day. On Monday, I asked them what animals carried their babies in their mouths. Immediately Kohen shouted out fish! Um, totally admitting here that I had no idea fish carried their babies in their mouths until I opened up the packet for Monday. I love being surprised by all that he knows!

What is it about markers that children love so much? I mean crayons are fun and all, but markers? It's like the jackpot! They took the tops on and off, on and off. And they colored their cups all different colors, we added the fins and tails. We took a bag of Goldfish, one of our favorite snacks, and counted them out into our Mama Fish's mouth. And then of course, we ate them after we "swam" around the house carrying our babies around.

On Tuesday we made Turtles.

When this girl gets focused, that tongue comes out! And I love it because I catch myself all the time with my tongue just like that when I'm concentrating! Ha, like Mother like Daughter.

After we made our turtles, we let them dry while we tried carrying objects around on our backs like Mama Turtles carry their babies on their backs. This was hilarious and it was a great opportunity to incorporate our word of the month, GENTLE!

Once their turtles were dry, we took them to the backyard and made habitats for our baby turtles or hatchlings.

On Wednesday we made Kangaroo Pouches.

Here is another great Make and Play activity we did this week. Kohen and Khloe sat and colored their baby kangaroos or joeys and colored their pouches. We put them together and they spent the rest of the afternoon hopping around the house like kangaroos! I even caught Khloe trying to feed hers a bottle. Such a sweet Kangaroo Mama!

This Mama is thankful for another great week with Mother Goose Time!

Please note: I received these materials and resources from Mother Goose Time free of charge in exchange for me telling all about our experiences using their materials.

You can check out their website here.

www.mothergoosetime.com

Gave ...

2017-01-12T00:45:00.000-05:00

2016 gets my emotions all kinds of crazy, all kinds of hormonal, all kinds of mixed up. Sometimes I can't even go there about 2016. I want to scream at it and tell it that it was terrible. I want to tell it that it stole too many people that I loved dearly. I want to tell it that it hurt my husband's heart more than it will ever know. I want to tell it that I shed more tears this year than in so many others combined. I want to tell it that I am so glad it's over. I want to be angry at 2016 and dismiss it and never think of it again. I want to tell it that 2 cousins, a close friend and a mother is too much for one year. I want to hate it.

And then I look at Krozby. I look at that sweet face and think as much as 2016 stole, it gave too. 2016 just kicks me right in my emotional department. I want to be mad at it, but I know deep down that even in the midst of so much tragedy, confusion and heart ache, 2016 was still good and gracious. It almost makes me cringe to even give it credit.

But as much as 2016 took, it gave.

I remember walking into my cousin Bradley's funeral, standing there in the foyer. My Dad's side of the family is pretty good in size, I have a lot of cousins. We all stood together, a front you could say. It's a sad thing to say, but before that day I couldn't even remember the last time we were all together. I remember when my cousin Michael walked in the door. I remember hugging him, a little tighter than I would have in the past. That would be the last time I'd ever wrap my arms around that scrawny boy.

I remember walking into Micahel's visitation just six weeks later. I watched my aunt come in the room, scanning it, looking only for her Mama. She found her and laid her head in my 85 year old Grandma's lap and just cried. A Mother's love is the strongest and in that moment, I was reminded of two things: my own strength and my own needs. I am a mother who is strong for her own children. And I am a child who sometimes needs to just cry in her mother's lap. There is no other love like it.

I remember that Sunday morning in July, being a part of the group that filled the ICU waiting room. Between David's Family and Friends, not only was the waiting room full but so were the hallways. I remember standing next to Travis in David's room. The room was filled with people who loved him so much, none of us wanting to say goodbye, all of us still praying deep down for this to just be a dream. The time came for the "see ya later"s. I froze, unsure of myself, a complete mess. Travis let go of my hand and walked over to David's bedside. He held his hand and promised him that he would take care of his family. That we would always be there for his wife, his children, his grandchildren. I watched the gift of such a sweet friendship unfold and be promised to go on regardless that one of them was leaving earlier than the other. We sat in the waiting room telling stories of David's life, laughing because no story of David didn't lead you to laughter. David was one of the most hilarious people I have ever known. To know him was to not just love him, but to crave his presence. I hope he knows that everyday he gifts us with sweet, precious, hilarious memories.

I remember sitting in the ICU room with Travis in October, his Mom hooked up to so many machines that it was overwhelming to look at. And when it got to be too much, to listen to, we looked at Krozby. We would hold him, talk to him, smile at him. Krozby made life in those tragic moments a tiny bit more bearable. Babies are good at that you know, bringing peace in times of trouble.

In every one of these tragic moments, God gave me a little something. A reminder to hug a little tighter, a reminder of how strong we mothers truly are, a reminder to friend a little harder, a reminder to laugh in the midst of sadness, a reminder of how redeeming a baby's life can be.

So yea, 2016 was hard. And it took, but it gave too.

I'm looking forward to this year. I am looking for all of the little gifts and never forgetting the ones that I was reminded of in 2016.

Jumping Back In With Mother Goose Time ...

2017-01-05T13:44:00.001-05:00

Jumping back into school in January can be the worst. It's like wrangling a bunch of cats and trying to get them into water. Trying to pull them away from their new Christmas belongings and their warm beds that have been occupied a little longer in the mornings can be a real good time. To keep my own sanity, I always like to ease us back in. Usually by the beginning of the second week, we're back in full force.

Kohen is the least hardest kid though to get to the table. That unopened box of Mother Goose Time goodness drove him crazy over Christmas.

Toward the end of the break, I opened up our box and dove in to see what would be in store for this month.

Our theme is Baby Animals.

We'll be tackling the letters Gg, Qq and Yy, the numbers 5 and 15, the hexagon shape and will talk about what it means to be gentle (Lord knows we need that around here with all these boys).

Our weeks will go accordingly:

Week One: Waiting For Baby

Week Two: Carrying Baby

Week Three: Keeping Baby Safe

Week Four: How Babies Change

Each week we start out with asking what We Know about the subject and what We Wonder about the subject. This is the perfect way to introduce anything to kids. By asking these questions, we get the wheels turning in those brains of theirs and get them excited. This gives us the opportunity to celebrate what they already know and to recognize that there is so much more out there to learn!

This week started out with a bang! We talked about all the animals that grow in Mommy's bellies and how they nurse from their Mommys when they're born. Well, y'all know we have Krozby here and he nurses and oh how quickly Kohen was to ask if Mommy was like a pig then. Um, sorta? I guess?

Oink. Oink.

Regardless of me being compared to a pig, it was fun to watch Kohen use his Pig Counters to see how many piggies could nurse from the Momma Pig he made with his PlayDoh. Along with Imaginative Play, we also use these counters for math. These are great for doing addition, subtraction, making patterns and sorting! We also talked about litters and how many baby pigs a Mommy Pig can carry in their tummy at one time. Imagine the look on Kohen's face when I told him they could carry 8-12 at once!

Further into the week we talked about baby animals that grow in eggs!

Our Theme Poster is down low so Kohen and Khloe can explore as often as they'd like to, not just during school hours.

We opened up the conversation by allowing Kohen and Khloe to point out the animals on the Theme Poster that grow in eggs. We talked about what the temperature might be like inside the egg and how long we thought it would take for an egg to hatch.

Mother Goose Time includes something called an "Invitation to Create". I love these! Sometimes kiddos just need some motivation to get their own creative juices flowing and this does just that!

We used crayons and watercolors to design and decorate our eggs. Even the big boys got in on this project! For us, doing a discussion while their hands are busy helps them to retain more. So we did just that. They worked on their eggs and we discussed more about baby animals, the patterns that are shown on the eggs in the photo and the "wax technique" they were using to create their designs.

Good start to a great theme!

Please note: I received these materials and resources from Mother Goose Time free of charge in exchange for me telling all about our experiences using their materials.

You can check out their website here.

www.mothergoosetime.com

Bringing Back Mother Goose Time ...

2016-12-13T10:46:00.001-05:00

Hey Y'all! Remember Mother Goose Time? That adorable preschool curriculum we used a couple years ago? Well, we just started back up this month and we're a little excited about it.

Kohen making his Owl.

Just in case you don' know about it, I'll fill you in. So we get this amazing box every month filled with 20 days of pre-bagged bliss for any preschool aged kid. And it is so organized for us Mamas, so it's bliss for us too. Each month there is a different theme and this month we are talking all about Winter In the Woods.

There is so much included in each month's curriculum. Art activities, themed music, activities for number and letter recognition, manipulative toys, a planner and a scheduled month for us Mamas. There is also everything needed to learn about days of the week, months of the year and the weather.

Right now, we are homeschooling through 4th, 3rd and 1st grade - y'all know this Mama needs all the help I can get when it comes to making our mornings as easy and smooth as possible. MGT does just that for us.

Kohen is obsessed with animals.

All of them. All the kinds. Ocean animals. Woodland animals. Dogs, cats. Even beavers and turtles. So when I saw this month included days that were all about animals that lived in the woods, I got excited.

The first week was all about different animals we would find if we took a stroll through the woods right now. We learned about deer, bears, hedgehogs and owls.

There is always an opening question to start that morning off with and I may or may not have died when I asked Kohen what he knew about deer and his response was, "I know I just ate one at Poppie's house!"

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is being able to watch my children use their imaginations, to watch them play, to watch their little minds go to work - so learning about bears this week was my favorite. We took a little walk in our wooded backyard and collected items that a bear would use to create their own den. Kohen and Khloe picked up leaves, pine straw, sticks and bark. Each of them were given a bowl as their den and they covered their bear's home with all of the items they collected. We had so much fun! Each of them had some of the Counting Bears (manipulative toys sent from Mother Goose Time this month) and used those as their bear families.

So far December in our preschool world has been lots of fun! If you have a preschooler at home, I encourage you to take a look at Mother Goose Time. You'll be impressed at how much goodness can fit into one box ...

Please note: I received these materials and resources from Mother Goose Time free of charge in exchange for me telling all about our experiences using their materials.

You can check out their website here.

www.mothergoosetime.com

Sweet As Sugar ...

2016-07-24T23:30:00.003-04:00

I simply cannot believe I am already planning Khloe Ruth's Second Birthday. Like really? She has been with us for two whole years?

I find myself thinking all the time how I thought I knew what it would feel like to have a Daughter. I thought I knew how much fun it would be to get lost in the Little Girl Department in Target and I thought I knew how my heart would pitter patter laying in the bed twirling her hair in my fingers. I thought I knew how great it would feel to call out "Good Morning Princess" every day. And I thought I knew what it be like to watch Travis have a little girl.

Truth is, I really had no idea at all how all the feels would feel.

It's just so much more y'all.

Mushy mushy.

Anyway, in the spirit of planning her Second Birthday Party I wanted to share the photos from her First Birthday!

Only a year late, right?

During Khloe Ruth's First Year with us, she was quickly nicknamed Sugar Lump. I have no idea who started it or how it got started, but it stuck. And to this day we still call her Sugar Lump.

So naturally the theme was Sweet as Sugar!

My Mama and I had so much fun with this! And I won't even tell you how long we spent on that wall back there. Measure, cut, fray, tape. Repeat.

It came out so perfect though!

We had so many yummy, sugary goodies! If it was dippable, we dipped it! I think my most favorite was the Nutter-Butter Cookies made to look like ice cream cones! There wasn't a dipped thing left in the house!

Khloe Ruth's beautiful cake (and the Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes and the Reese's Cupcakes) were made by none other than Aimee Baker with Baker'z Joy. She has been making our cakes for years and has never disappointed us! They're as yummy on the inside as they are adorable on the outside!

We had Homemade Lemonade on tap and with those cute straws ... We also added some Popcorn and ChexMix too. We all know everyone needs a little something salty with all the sweetness!

Adults and Kiddos alike had fun with this game! I'll never forget when Mrs. Marie got it exactly right!

I would love to say she devoured her cake, but she didn't. She ate the dang Nutter-Butter Cookies the whole time instead.

Whew. I cannot believe she is about to be Two! We've already started the Party Planning, my Mama actually started months ago. And this year's theme? You'll have to wait to see! Hopefully not a whole year though ...

Sweet Dreams Y'all.

All Them July Babies ...

2016-07-20T13:31:00.002-04:00

If you know us at all, you know that apparently the Husband and I spend a little too much time together in the month of October. Or at least we did in 2007, 2009 and 2011. Because we have birthdays to celebrate on the 9th, 11th and 13th of July. This year Kolt celebrated his 8th Birthday, Kruz celebrated his 6th and Kohen celebrated his 4th.

Because their Birthdays are so close together, we try really hard to make each of their days special. Sometimes we're able to make the whole day about them with going to spend their Birthday Money and going to their place of choice to eat. And then there are years like this one in which we were consumed with the passing of a very special friend the day after Kolt's Birthday, Travis' School Schedule, attending the funeral on Kohen's Birthday and having our Kid's Crusade at church every night of that week. So this year we kind of just did what we could.

Kolt's Birthday fell on the same morning of the Party, so he chose to make a Dunkin Donuts run with his Daddy and blow his candle out that way. We were all starving after the Birthday Party so we ran off to a new Mexican Spot here in our little town. And since we were out, we took him to Academy to spend some of his Birthday Money.

On Kruz' Birthday he requested a trip to the "same store as Kolt", GameStop and Toys R' Us. He is very methodical with how he spends his money. If only all 6 Year Olds were like that, right? So we headed to GameStop first for Fifa 2015, because in his words, he knew he could get the '15 Version cheaper than the '16 Version and really they're the same thing. He went to Toys R Us for a new 3DS game and to Academy for some new Nike stuff. And after church that night we went to the pool for a night swim and enjoyed the Birthday Cake he picked out from Publix earlier that day.

And on Kohen's Birthday he asked all day when his friends were coming over for his party. I tried over and over to explain to him that we already had his party, but he just wasn't having that answer because "this day is my Birthday Mommy". We had this conversation a thousand times. My heart only broke into a thousand pieces when we got to our church for the funeral service for David and he saw so many of our friends and he asked if this was his Party. Bless it. I was so thankful this kiddo was content with some cupcakes at the end of the night when Daddy got home from work.

And of course, there's the Big Birthday Celebration we had! I believe I counted 38 kids here, not including my own. It's always a fun time with the water slide and all of the families that we have over.

This year I decided not to feed the crowd and just have snacks. It was perfect! I took advantage of the Buy One Get One Free sales at Publix and scored a ton of variety snack packs. At the end of the day, we went through 80 bags of chips and 38 bags of snacks like Cheez-Itz and Animal Crackers.

We cut up some watermelon, had popsicles ready to go and had a cookie cake from Great American Cookie and drinks. Bam! Done! Easiest way ever to keep a ton of kiddos content while they wore themselves out!

I would say Miss Khloe enjoyed that cake too!

I always look forward to celebrating my babies' Birthdays and always so thankful when it's all over too! Now here's to planning Miss Khloe's Second Birthday ...

Napping By the Pool ...

2016-06-29T23:00:00.000-04:00

I pretty much wore the heck outta my kids today. We pooled it from 11:30 until 4:30.

With that being said, this is really to show off the adorableness of Khloe Ruth sleeping by the pool today.

And maybe a few of this Mama and her friends. Because yea, I have friends.

And that's pretty much it.

This was her Mama, Please Just Let Me Go To Sleep Somewhere Face. She laid down right next to me in the other chair and was out like a light for about an hour or so.

Cue us Mamas making her this canopy thing to keep her from burning.

Pure Princess Treatment.

Now for us Mamas and a few of me and some of my other babies ...

Happy Summer Days to You! I know we're sure havin' 'em!

Lets Talk Over Laundry ...

2016-06-23T22:06:00.001-04:00

Right now, my children are all exhausted little humans with no schedule and no bed time.

Anybody else?

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving watching them play basketball in the backyard until they can't see anymore. And I'm loving letting them watch movies at random times during the day and using the pool to be considered "clean".

But when the exhaustion sets in, the bickering begins. Like the really, really petty kind.

So here was me about 2 weeks ago. Sitting in my bedroom floor during nap time surrounded by about 7 loads of laundry that needed to be folded while the 3 larger of the 5 tiny humans played outside. Cue the backdoor slamming and the bickering. About what? I have no idea. And I really could've cared less. Because here is my rule: if they're you're not dying or bleeding, you are not allowed to interrupt precious nap time.

I heard the door, cringed and trotted down the stairs to resolve the issue.

And it was like this lightbulb went off.

Clearly they needed some counseling. Some therapy. Some time to talk out the problems.

And what better way to accomplish that than over laundry.

All 7 glorious loads.

So while they folded, I sat on the bed and read my book.

And while I read and they folded, they were forced to work together as a Team and talk out their problems. It took them well over an hour to fold, hang up and put away all the clothes.

Some tears were shed from frustration, there was some pointless rolling around in the floor and some pointing out of who was doing more work. But at the end of their first Laundry Therapy Session, they saw how much they got done when they pulled together and worked, when they encouraged one another and by the time they were done they had talked through the fight that brought them inside in the first place.

So now, when the squabbling starts, all I have to do is say the word laundry and they turn around to figure it out on their own.

Parenting Win.

P.S. We have had more than one Laundry Therapy Session.

Like, we just had one today that included Kollin and Kruz. About what? I don't know. But at the end of the Laundry Therapy Session all was right in the world again.

Another Green Thumb ...

2016-06-16T23:16:00.000-04:00

Some of my most favorite childhood memories happened in Gardens.

Growing up, at the top left corner of our yard held our Family Garden. And every year I'd watch my Daddy till the ground, make the rows, plant the seeds and I'd watch it grow.

I can remember the compost pile and having to run potato scrapings up there after my Mama would make mashed potatoes for dinner. I can remember running through the corn stalks and playing hide and go seek in them, picking okra and watching the tomatoes go from green to red.

Then over at my Grandma and Grandpa's house stood their garden and in my eyes, it was always so grand. And might I add, it's still there today. They're 86 and 91 and still grow their garden every year. Talk about Life Goals!

I can remember going to Grandma and Grandpa's house and sitting in a circle while we all shucked corn and Grandma at the sink cutting it off the ears to make her Cream Corn. I can remember walking with her, scissors in hand, to cut fresh gladiolas for our kitchen table. I can remember watching my Grandpa, squatted down, picking his crops.

A few years ago Travis built us a Box Garden and that first year we had it, for the space we were given, I actually did pretty good. I had tons of okra, zucchini, cucumbers, squash and bell peppers. All of our favorites!

The second and third year were blah. Heck, I didn't know you needed to fix the soil and add more to it and not plant the same plants in the same spot two years in a row and yada, yada, yada. Obviously, I had a lot to learn!

I was determined to get my green thumb out again this season and get some homegrown food. And what do you know? Kohen is obsessed with our little garden. Reminds me of me. Every morning he helps me water the plants, checks to see if our squash grew, counts the prickly cucumbers and watches the tomatoes turn from green to red.

This was one thing I always wanted to be a part of our household; knowing where food comes from and being able to watch something go from a tiny seed to something on our kitchen table. And I'm thankful we're doing just that ...

Kohen's love for Gardening goes from the crops in the morning to the flowers in the evening. Give that kid a water hose and he's as content as can be.

It's like ... our Bonding Time.

My heart gets all mushy from memories and he gets all excited and we end up hugging it out and he says, "I love you Mommy" and then makes those kissing sounds and his adorable little fishy lips and then its the perfect timing because it's usually bedtime after the flowers get watered and everybody is in a lovey mood and I think maybe for a split second he isn't an Emotionally Unstable Toddler and ... I'm runnin' on here. But you get the picture.

Gardening and Flowers and Kohen are good for my Soul.

The end.

Starting Summer Off The Right Way ...

2016-06-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

It happens every year. Sometime in April it hits me that Summer time is coming.

And that I want those next couple months to be E P I C.

And usually by the time I blink, it's September and we're already back in school. And there I am kicking myself for still being pale as a ghost, not having used the heck out of our Neighborhood Pool and wondering where the heck time went.

And so this year, as usual, I wanted it to be a good one. But unlike the other Summers, I'm actually doing a pretty good job at keeping the good times rollin'.

We kicked off the Summer with vacation and really there is no better way to do it than that.

Since we've been home from Florida, we've spent lots of time with Auntie Am and our cousins Haley, Macey and Brooks. Turns out, for this Planner Mama, that last minute trips to Slices for pizza and the playground can be great for the soul.

And of course, we've had Pool Dates too.

The Summer keeps getting better and better!

We've had more Pool Dates with more friends and the boys look like little Indians with white hair.

And I'm not pale.

And Khloe has THE most adorable bikini tan lines ever.

We've already skipped more nap times than I can comprehend and just played until dark.

The boys did Vacation Bible School last week and as nervous as I was that Kohen would not stay since he is a bit of a Mama's Boy, he left me hangin' every morning with no kiss and no hug, just a Bye Mommy. I was undecided as to whether or not to be happy about this. They had a blast like they do every year. We are so thankful for First Baptist of Locust Grove and all they do to make each year better and better! And in an effort to make the Summer E P I C, we made a special trip for donuts their last morning to celebrate the great week they'd had!

We've had popcorn right before dinner and bed times have gone out the window. I was reminded of that as I listen to the boys yelling on the couch watching the NBA Finals Game 5. Basketball is the newest obsession around here. Lord help me.

We've Road Tripped it to Tennessee. And maybe this is all kids - I don't know - but for mine, staying in a hotel for a night is like, the best thing ever. So this past weekend, we were like the coolest parents ever.

So yea. So far, we're killin' this Summer.

Working on making it one for the books.

Time to Admit I'm a New Creature ...

2016-06-02T21:42:00.001-04:00

I'm sitting here behind my computer picking at my nails, staring at the keyboard and peeking up at the blank screen like everything I'm thinking is going to just put itself there. Because, it's like, I don't know how to pick up something after having left it for so long.

I've changed over the past year. Something about nearly losing your Dad, having to put on your Big Girl Panties to make some major adult decisions, deciding it's okay to dream again and making the changes to start doing that, losing two cousins who are your own age in a month of each other and turning 30 that'll do that to you.

My friend Nicole turned 30 before I did and I remember her telling me how much changes. All the feels. All the ways you stop caring about some stuff and start caring way more about other stuff. All the ways you realize what is really important and just how brutiful this life thing is at it's core. All the ways you quit giving a rat's behind about other's opinions and start focusing more on the people who mean the most. All the ways you realize who your real friends are. All the ways you realize as a Mother that You matter, like You - not the Wife-You or the Mama-You - but just You.

At 29, I thought she was crazy.

At 30, I realized it's all true. I feel like over the past year, I've become a New Creature. I have learned to make my marriage more important than I ever have. I have learned to only value the opinions of those who matter most to me. I have learned that my Walk and my Relationship with God will not look like everyone else's and that's totally cool with Him. I have learned that not everyone will agree with me. I have learned our Family Dynamic is different than most of those around us and that's okay. Because here's the thing: they're not me. They're not Travis' wife. They're not Kollin, Kolt, Kruz, Kohen and Khloe's Mama. Nope. That'd be me.

I have no idea where any of that just came from. For real. My intention was to get on here and be all blubbery about how much I miss this dang blog. But maybe though I'm just having a hard time starting again because a lot in me has changed and I needed to acknowledge that.

Or maybe I'm just Hormonally Challenged these days and I don't blog anymore simply because it isn't written on my beloved To-Do List. Either one.

Really though, I do miss this blog. I miss it enough that this will be my third attempt at jumping back in.

I miss sharing my messiness, my victories, my favorite recipes.

I miss venting.

I miss letting all of my crazy show and forgetting until I see some of y'all in public and think, "Oh Dear".

I miss having something to go back and look at when it comes to how fast my babies are growing up.

Seriously though, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I should put this sucker on my beloved To-Do List. That might just work. Because for real, if "Feed the Kids Breakfast" wasn't on there, they wouldn't get fed.

I'm just gonna totally flip the script on ya and say all of these pictures are from Memorial Day! And yes, Kruz was there. He's just such a little fish that I couldn't catch him on the camera.

Monday was good. My feels were a ~~little~~ way more there this year than the Memorial Days before since we lost my Cousin Bradley back in January. He served our country for several years proudly and at 29 he left us.

I made sure we sat the kiddos down this year and told them about Memorial Day; the history of it and why it is so much more than a day off of work and being at the pool all day. We talked about the difference in Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. We talked about Bradley and others in our family who have served. We talked about soldiers and their bravery, their sacrifices, their families and how some give their life for our Freedom. We talked about Pearl Harbor, September 11 and Operation Iraqi Freedom. We talked about why I made them dress in Red, White and Blue for church the Sunday before.

And before we were done, we circled around one of the Toy Soldiers our church gave out the day before as a reminder to pray for our military and we did just that. We took turns praying for our soldiers, their families and our country.

Alright Y'all. That's all I got.

My babies were worn out by the Pool today and it's so quiet here, so I'm off to read!

Night!

Those Sweet Glimpses ...

2016-03-27T21:52:00.000-04:00

Do you ever see glimpses of your childhood?

I did today.

This year our family has endured too many losses. And as much as I hate to say this, it took those losses to shake us to our core and decide to spend more time together as a family.

Growing up, Easter was always, always, always spent at Grandma and Grandpa's. With a juicy ham, too many deviled eggs to count, okra and sweet cream corn. And of course there was always the Egg Hunt. I can remember having to hide in the back bedroom while the eggs were being hid, oh the anticipation. I can remember filling my basket and retreating to the living room to dump them all out to see what goodies I got.

And this year, I was so thankful to watch my babies enjoy that same tradition. It's been, only the Lord knows how long, since we had Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's. There was ham, okra, deviled eggs, sweet cream corn, the list goes on and on. And there was the Egg Hunt.

I'm just gonna say this. My generation has blown the last generation out of the water in offspring. Good Lord. I lost count after 25. You try countin' kids while they're all runnin' around lookin' for eggs.

I am so thankful for my Grandma and Grandpa. Good Lord, look what they've done!

All these kiddos, what a blessing they are! Drive ya a little crazy, but a blessing still!

Sugar Lump wasn't feeling too swift this weekend, so her Daddy's arms was where she wanted to be. No Solo Egg Hunting for her this year.

I think this was my favorite picture of all from today! I just love those sweet smiles from Kohen.

This Easter Season has been a doozy for us. Lots of sickness shenanigans, last minute shopping, yucky weather. But this. This is what is important. Family coming together, loving on one another and having some fun.

I am so thankful for this big family of mine! My Grandma is 85 Years Old, my Grandpa is 90. I have 5 Aunts, 4 Uncles and 14 Cousins and remember, I lost count at the Second Cousins. We are crazy and country and strong as all get out. Plain and simple, I am thankful to call them mine.

I am excited for the years to come, for the future Easter get togethers, to see my children enjoy this tradition like I did!

Happy Easter Y'all!

Blurt ...

2015-11-07T22:28:00.000-05:00

There is no rhyme or reason to this. And I really don't even know the point. I am just going to blurt out a bunch of stuff. Because I just feel like it I guess.

1. I am addicted to Grey's Anatomy. It's like my guilty pleasure, my escape at bedtime (and sometimes nap time). I feel like I know them. Please someone tell me I am not the only one like this. We took a quick trip to the mountains a few weekends ago and I'm all "Oh my gosh! That looks just like Mer and Derek's house!". Yea. It's that bad. I started Season 1 on Netflix a couple months ago, just started Season 11 this week. Anyway, so there is my confession.

2. I'm in total awe of having a daughter. My heart feels like it may explode somedays, well most days really. And I really could sit here and write for forever about her. Maybe I'll save all of that sappiness for another post. But really y'all, when I get her out of the tub and she sits on my bed and I brush her hair ... my.heart.explodes ...

3. I'm ready for winter. Actually, I'm more than ready. I'm a Summer girl for sure, but I'm not going to deny how much I crave a fire in the fireplace this time of year. And hot chocolate. And fleece jammies. Oh yea.

4. I'm thinking about cutting all of my hair off again. Thoughts on that?

5. I got a gym membership. Y'all I haven't had one of those in nearly 10 years. Honestly, I never thought I would want another one. And then about a week ago, I just decided to get one. And I'm loving it. The running, the machines, the sauna. I love it.

6. Ben and Jerry's American Dream. Enough said there.

7. This is the first year I am really feeling just how much testosterone is in my house. I am surrounded and enveloped and overtaken by football, football and more football. Kolt is obsessed. Like bad. He eats, sleeps and breathes football. Him and the other two biggest boys have printed just about all of the schedules, both Pro and College. And they study them. I have football cards all over my house. By the toilets. Taped to the walls. Pinned to the fridge. I am washing the same jerseys over and over again since they wear them to bed and to play in. And I'm not going to lie. I am loving every second of it. I love to hear them sit at the kitchen table and draw up their "Dream Team". I love to watch them play football in the backyard. I love to hear Kolt say, "Really?? What were you thinking??" - just like his Daddy does during a game. I love it all.

8. I hit over 13,000 steps on my FitBit the other day from just cleaning my house. That is a lot of cleaning.

9. I love that Kohen loves animals like he does. Out of all the things to pick on Netflix, he picks Planet Earth - the Ice episode - he's obsessed with penguins. It's seriously the cutest squeal ever when it comes on.

10. I need a new wardrobe. One fit for a thirty year old. Versatile. And comfy.

11. I need a vacation. Like a long one.

So I guess that's it for right now. My random thoughts.

Fresh Start ...

2015-09-29T18:13:00.002-04:00

I miss it y'all.

This blog.

I miss it so much that when I stopped to think about how long it has been since I posted, my heart actually ached a little.

The post before last, I posted from a hospital room. The day after Mother's Day, my Dad ended up in the hospital. And what was went to be a "simple surgery" and "a few days to heal" ended up being two weeks. Two weeks of watching my Dad nearly die, two weeks of fighting with doctors, two weeks of watching my family be crushed, two weeks that depleted me emotionally, mentally and physically. I am so thankful I can sit here and type that my Dad is okay, back at work and healthier than he has ever been.

June brought Summer and the pool opened in our neighborhood. Our school year came to an abrupt end because I honestly didn't have the energy to finish it up. We spent June at the pool, recovering from all that May brought us.

July is a big birthday month around here. My Dad, Kolt, Kruz, Kohen and the Hubs all celebrate their special days this month.

In August, my Sugar Lump turned one, Kohen had a busted ear drum, I turned 30 and we started our school year back.

Now it's the end of September. Just like that.

It's crazy how life just happens and happens so fast. The next few posts might be some from Summer or from birthdays or could be me telling you about how crazy current life is. Either way, I am so excited about being here. About being back to share our life with you.

Anything you want to hear about? Let me know!

Birthday Love For Kolt Edward ...

2015-07-09T00:34:00.000-04:00

This kid y'all. This kid turned seven today. I heard over and over and over from him that today was "the best day ever". And really we didn't do anything over the top. But that's Kolt. He's pretty much just happy all the time, not too hard to please. The Hubs was at school all day, so our birthday festivities had to wait until after he got home. Kolt always, always, always picks Mexican for his birthday dinner. And it's our tradition to take the Birthday Kid to Toys R Us to pick out his (or her now) birthday gift(s). Most times after we're done pitching in our $25 and the grandparents give "a little", the Birthday Kid will end up with about $75 to spend.

Kolt spent his money on lots of Pokemon things and a MineCraft Lego set.

YahYah got him a box to store his Pokemon cards in and some more Pokemon cards to help fill it up!

MawMaw and PawPaw gave him $20 to go to TRU with!

All of his goodies! And I see a Photo Bomber!

Happy SEVENTH Birthday Kolt Edward! You are one loving and loved kiddo!

Surgery and Such ...

2015-05-12T12:49:00.001-04:00

Sunday was one of the best Mother's Day I have ever had. It was nothing fancy and it was nothing short of perfect.

I woke up to a beautiful new wind chime, fresh flowers and muffins. The boys and I snuck downstairs to make a banana pudding for the husband (yes on Mother's Day, but he finished up one crazy semester on Friday and he deserved his most favorite dessert). At church I was given another pretty set of flowers for being the Momma with the most, who knew? After church we grilled out with the family and then Travis and I worked on a project we've been wanting to tackle. It was nice to just spend some time with him. Made my Mother's Day!

First thing Monday morning, we were thrown for a loop. To not air all the dirty laundry, I'll just say my Pops ended up needing emergency surgery and according to his Doctor, we got here just in time. Apparently, his abdomen was full of infection, puss and other yucky things - so full that he was close to dying and we never even knew.

He is going to be here about a week.

So last night, we watched Family Feud, MisFit Garage and Swamp People. It was kinda nice. I really don't get to see my Dad very often. So yea, I'm soaking this up. I'm soaking him up these next few days.

I'm thankful for Nurse's Station coffee and warm hospital blankets since my Dad is freezing the room out.

I'm thankful for the feeling of being a kid again listening to my Dad teach me about fixing cars and such.

I'm thankful for a husband who never questioned me being gone, a brother who is hopping on a bus to get here tonight and family and friends who are helping out with my babies.

Please pray for my Pops. We're having a few bumps in the road and right now he really needs rest. Please pray for a smooth recovery and for restoration in more places than just his body.

This Girl ...

2015-05-07T11:21:00.003-04:00

Sugar Lump.

Lump of Sugar.

Klo.

Boogie Bear.

Pretty Girl.

Sissy.

Sister.

Khloe Ruth.

You've acquired so many sweet and goofy names in the past 9 months. You have swooped in and knocked every last one of us off of our feet, even Kohen. You smile as soon as your eyes pop open in the morning and who ever is in the room with you at the time smiles too. You're such a great baby, always happy (unless your sleepy), always laughing at your brothers. You love your jumper and jumping in my lap and for Heaven's sake I have never seen a Baby Girl love her Daddy like you love yours. Your whole body goes haywire as soon as he comes through the door. I am so thankful for that sweet bond I am already watching grow between you two. You just started crawling last week and now I can't keep you in one spot to save my life. You weighed almost 17 pounds at your check up and all your brothers crowded around to comfort you when you had your finger pricked. Good grief. You are still nursing morning, noon and night and in between. You love yogurt!

Sugar Lump, you are the best!

Happy Nine Months (and Two Days) to You!

Mommy loves you more each day!

So There's This ...

2015-05-06T15:29:00.001-04:00

It has been almost a month ago since I fulfilled a promise to both myself and my friend Nicole. When she left Georgia to move to Arizona last August, I promised to come visit. I promised to bring my sweet baby girl with me so they could meet each other since Nicole would miss her birth by just a few days. If I can be honest for a second, I normally don't follow through with promises like this. Sure, in the heat of the moment, in the days when your best friend is packing up to move clear across the country, promises are thrown around. We promised we would FaceTime, we said our kids could be pen pals, I promised to come visit in the Spring. Considering we never FaceTimed and our kids never wrote a single letter to each other, I told myself I had better make that trip happen.

On April 9th, Khloe and I headed to the airport to fly to Phoenix. I was so nervous about having her on the plane. I just kept praying she wouldn't be that baby that screamed the whole time. And thank the Lord, she wasn't. Considering I woke her up at 5am to head to the airport, she slept just about the entire flight. When she did wake up, she was as happy as could be.

She slept and I read. The perfect combination.

Nicole was waiting for me at Baggage Claim and although I was forever away from home, I felt at home just as soon as I saw her face. What is so crazy about this girl is that I haven't known her that long. It seems like most times, "best friends" have known each other for forever. We just met about 3 years ago. And even though our lives are so different, we are just the same. We are Mommas, we are wives, we are girls who need a friend. We struggle, we have triumphs, we text each other when we make the worst parenting mistakes ever. She is one I can rely to understand why I give my kids melatonin at nap time sometimes so I can regain my sanity. She has answered countless (and sometimes ridiculous) homeschooling questions over and over and over again. We have brought each other Starbucks in the middle of the day so the other one doesn't have to get out. Our friendship has just clicked. And I thank God for her and her sweet family every day.

Wow. That was mushy and gross and I really didn't mean to go there. But I did.

So where was I? Airport, then breakfast at her very favorite spot.

Seriously, the best vanilla latte I have ever had.

I really just spent the next few days stepping into her life in Arizona.

We shuffled the kids around school.

We climbed a mountain, which was one of the most liberating things I have ever done in my entire life. Everyone should conquer a mountain, even if you do stop at Quitter's Point and go to Chipolte.

She showed me around her town, which is so beautiful! And took me to the Farmer's Market.

(First time meeting my Aunt Ruth who lives in Arizona too!)

We talked and talked and ate guacamole and talked and ate some more guacamole on her patio. We watched Jeopardy and answered all the questions wrong. I got to smooch all over her babies while she got to smooch all over mine. We even planted two plants in her backyard, Lord I hope they are still alive. We ate good food and the best yogurt I have ever had.

Other than spending nearly two days at the airport to get home, the trip was practically the best.

It was nothing fancy, which made it perfect. Just getting to be a part of the Pope's everyday life was exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to see where Josie went to school, their cute little neighborhood, their favorite spot for ice cream. And that is just what we did.

P.S. Next time, we will fly on a regular ticket.

A Week In Words - 03/23

2015-03-28T22:51:00.001-04:00

Life This Week -

It is Saturday night and I am in my pajamas and have been for a few hours. Good Lord, I love nights like this. I need nights like this.

This week has been great! Although, I think any week following a week like the one before this past one, would be great. Know what I'm sayin'?

For the most part, life was pretty low key. We did have a play date on Wednesday at the park and (swoon) it was wonderful. It was wonderful to see our friend Livi, it was wonderful to get to know a new friend, it was wonderful to sit and chat to another Momma of five about struggles and such. It was, just, wonderful.

Here is Khloe and her newest friend and possible future husband. You can check out their family blog over at House Of Kent.

We did StoryTime for the third time in a row this month. And I can see Kohen start to come out of his shell more and more. He's actually dancing to the 'get your wiggles out' song before the story and this week he pulled his own carpet square and sat with his brothers, without me. Huge step for him!

This week I took Kruz out on a date, just the two of us. This child. Oh this child.

He opened the door for me, without me saying anything. He picked O'Charley's for dinner and somehow landed both me and my Momma for dinner. And loved every second of it. After dinner, he insisted on "the place with the big brown cones" aka Dairy Queen. So we hit up the drive thru and ended up with this ginormous-dipped in chocolate-filled with M&M blizzard cone.

I should've known it would've been a dripping mess. We pulled over into a grassy spot and enjoyed our ice cream there.

Kruz: So this is what a date looks like?

Me: Well, yea. Sometimes dinner, but always something sweet. And I normally just talk to Kollin and Kolt.

Kruz: Talk?

Me: Yea, talk.

Kruz: Hi.

He ate about 10 bites (none of the actual cone) and was done. Go figure.

Here are a few more random moments from the week.

Khloe (and Mommy) are loving her BowBands from Lindzee's Bowtique. And who knew how great Kruz would be at folding socks? Kohen plays in the walker more than Khloe does. And sometimes a baby girl just needs her Daddy to fall asleep with. And yes, I let Kollin drive across the church parking lot.

I survived.

School This Week -

Kollin and Kolt finished up another PACES Math Book this week and have started to learn how to carry in addition problems. It has been fun seeing them faced with a challenge, something different. They both took to it easily though! They are both doing really well in Math this year, they must take after their Daddy in this department.

In Mother Goose Time we are continuing to blast through space.

One thing we learned about this week was galaxies! We talked about what they're made up of, Earth's Milky Way (the study complete with a Milky Way bar of course) and made our own galaxies! Oh glitter, how I loathe thee.

I always make it a point to do Math with Kruz (and Kohen when he is in the mood to sit still) while Kollin and Kolt work in their PACES books. Every month MGT provides Math Cards with each box of curriculum.

We love these cards! Love them! And I use them as a building block for more. I'll start with the easier ones and just continue to give him different addition and subtraction problems. We work through the advanced cards together. And those aluminum foil balls are our very own moon rocks. Ha!

MGT also provides Folder Games each month. This month the game gives us practice on shapes.

Outings -

Friday was Family Day and we headed out to see Paddington at the Dollar Theater. It was cute. I mean what I saw of the darn thing. By the time I dished out popcorn, passed the drink around 387 times, nursed Khloe, fed her sweet potatoes and took Kohen potty - I might have seen about 10 minutes of it. But it was cute.

Who am I kidding? I'll end of renting it to watch it because I didn't see a lick of it.

Conversation of the Week -

On our date, we stopped by TJ Maxx and Kruz picked out some new undies. Avengers undies.

Me: Kruz, why did you pick out Avengers underwear?

Do you even know what Avengers are?

Kruz: What's Avengers? That "A" - that "A" is for AdvoCare!

These are AdvoCare underwear!

Favorite Snap -

Mother Goose Time: Swirling Storms, Swirling Rings ...

2015-03-24T22:06:00.000-04:00

It is only Tuesday and we have had so much fun already this week in Mother Goose Time.

We are learning about the planets!

This morning we learned about Neptune and Saturn.

MGT provided us with two fun art projects to learn about these two planets:

For our Neptune project, the boys used a bouncy ball and a container to paint their own Neptune. I dabbled some paint in their container and they used the ball to swirl the paint around. At first I used a box lid, then I got smart and used a wipe container with a lid so the ball would stop flying out. They really got crazy (and not too messy to my surprise) and had a blast doing their projects.

After their paper was painted to their liking, they cut a circle out for their planet and glued them onto black paper. Then we added white circle stickers around their planet to represent the 14 moons of Neptune.

As the boys worked through their art projects we talked about how far away from the sun Neptune is, who his "neighbors" are, how many moons Neptune has and all about the storms in it's atmosphere.

Once our Neptune were done and drying, we moved along to Saturn! This project allowed the boys to get up and move, so we did this in the middle of our homeschooling morning to let them get some energy out!

Each boy made their own Saturn Ring by using a craft stick (decorated by themselves) with a long piece of satin blue ribbon attached to the end of it.

Each month MGT provides us with a CD of fun tracks that relate to our theme! We danced to Swirling Saturn over and over and over again. The song talks about the rings around Saturn being made of ice and rocks - another fun tidbit they took in about this planet! We also played freeze with turning the song on and off and Kohen (2) loved it!

We had such a fun morning with Mother Goose Time today!

A Week In Words - 03/16

2015-03-21T00:10:00.000-04:00

Life This Week -

Hi there! And Happy Saturday Night to you. And me. Because I'm pretty sure this week tried to kill me. I just giggled out loud here people. Like I really think this week tried to kill me.

Monday I had a bird fly into my house. And proceed to fly up and down the stairs over and over again, ramming itself into the window. In the middle of nap time. Please, close your eyes and imagine me chasing a bird around my house, tip toeing oh so quietly trying to not wake up my children in the capturing process. With a hamper. Yes. Yes, I was trying to catch a bird in a hamper. Somehow the dumb thing finally flew out.

After nap on Monday Kollin spilled a jug of fabric softener on the kitchen floor. That was fun to clean up, said no one ever. And immediately following the clean up of that slippery mess, Kolt knocked over a bottle of olive oil while I was cooking dinner. In the same spot. And that was just Monday afternoon.

Somehow, I broke away and spent the morning with some amazing ladies Tuesday morning! I'm learning that with AdvoCare comes a new family to love on and to be loved by, and well, I love that! Lets just say Tuesday morning was needed.

One afternoon this week was spent hanging out with my Momma. On the side of the road that is, waiting for a wrecker to pick up her broken down car. For three hours. Best thing out of that was the ginormous amount of laughs that were had because, we were exhausted, the kids were exhausted and thats what you do when you're exhausted and waiting on a wrecker for three hours: laugh.

Wednesday was StoryTime at the library and we had just as much fun this week as we did last. Other than Khloe tipping over in Kollin's lap and banging her head on the floor that has NO padding. Yea, you should've heard all of the lovely gasps in the room from the other mothers, followed by Khloe screaming and Kohen asking over and over as I am trying to slip out the door "Mommy. Khloe hit head? Mommy. Mommy. Khloe cry Mommy. Mommy ..." I'm telling you: this week tried to kill me.

Thursday was mine and Kolt's night to slip away for a couple hours, just the two of us. The goal of these One-On-One nights are not to do anything fancy or long winded, but really just to talk and spend some quiet time together. We used to make our date nights with the kids these extravaganzas and it got to be too expensive, so we quit doing them. We've made it now to where these nights are just doing something small, like Kolt and I going to have yogurt.

This kid is so grateful for these nights. His little face lit up when we headed out the door Thursday night and that just means the world to me. And it made changing out of those yoga pants that I wanted to stay in for forever, a little easier.

School This Week -

Thank the Lord, we are back on track with it all. I'm telling you what, something in February threw us off completely! This week I feel like we found our footing again and are headed back to our good ole' normal homeschooling days! Whatever that is!

Mother Goose Time brought us some gems this week! I've been such a slacker about sharing what we are learning with MGT lately. Trust me though, we are doing lots, learning lots and having lots of fun doing and learning! This week we learned about some of the planets! Kollin and Kolt still do the art projects with us and I have added them to Science4Us.com to learn more on their level about the history of Earth and our Solar System.

Monday we learned about what makes Earth different from all of the other planets and imagined ourselves as aliens from another planet. We made these awesome alien headbands and played outside in them!

On another day we learned about Mercury! Um, I actually learned something too! Did you know Mercury is 875 degrees during the day and -300 degrees at night? Crazy! We had fun making our own Planet Mercurys - the boys colored one side red and one side blue to represent the temperature differences. Kollin and Kolt wrote a few facts about Mercury, like that it has zero moons, and added them to the planets they made.

Kohen has been having fun with the foam stars we received as one of the manipulatives for this month. We have been practicing sorting, patterns and counting forward and backwards with these stars. I love having math to do with Kohen, even though he is just two. For me, patterns are one of my favorite mathematical activities to do with the two of them. I can make it easy for Kohen, like just doing every other color as the pattern. For Kruz, I have him make his own patterns up and he loves doing this!

Favorite Snap -

Who knew Khloe Ruth would like Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles? Oh wait.

She has four big brothers.

A Week In Words - 03/09

2015-03-15T00:05:00.000-04:00

Life This Week -

Number One: Time Change kicked my butt. And Klo's too apparently, since she slept in until after 10:30 on Monday and Tuesday!

And Number Two: Because I may or may not fall asleep in the middle of typing this, I'm giving you our week in a few quick sentences.

Travis was on Spring Break!

We started a new (big) home project!

And we had a few days of gorgeous weather!

There ya go. Our life this week in a nutshell.

BOOM!

School This Week -

With Travis being home, it so hard to keep them behind the kitchen table doing school work! When he is home, they all want to be with him. Understandable I guess and another beautiful thing about homeschooling.

Outings -

Wednesday is our library day (according to the new schedule, in which I forgot and was so sweetly reminded by my 8 year old at 10:45 that Story Time started at 11:00). So somehow I miraculously wrapped up nursing Khloe and got out the door in ten minutes. You can just call me Super Mom. We made it to Story Time on time, this was our first time ever! And the kids loved it! Especially Kruz and Kohen! Kollin and Kolt were all, "This is so for babies". But I noticed them secretly (intently) listening to Froggy Gets Dressed. And caught a few giggle too.

We needed some new lights for our new (big) home project, so Thursday we headed to Ikea. Can I just say every store should have Smalland? Really!

Conversation Of The Week -

I caught Kollin doing Talk to Text on my phone, texting my Momma about me "stressing out" about getting all of our crap ready to sell for the consignment sale next week:

"Yah Yah. I need your help now. My mommy is stressed out so please come here. We have some delicious chili for you and anything else. I love you very much. This is Kollin. My mommy is about to bust in tears. She is stress eating! Eating a cupcake. Thank you and I am dying."

Favorite Snap(s) -

A Week in Words - 03/02 ...

2015-03-08T23:36:00.001-04:00

Life This Week-

I haven't done one of these posts in almost a year. But I like them. It's a nice little way to sum up our week, let you in on some of our craziness and oh how I love coming back to these later on to read. With that said, hope you enjoy this glimpse into our week ...

This week we started a new schedule. And when I say schedule, I mean every minute of every day is scheduled. Right down to shower times. Something like this has been needed for a long time, I just never sat down to do it - to figure it all out - to type it all up. And I knew going into something so different than what we are used to would be hard in the beginning. This week was a trial run of it all. And by the end of Friday, my house was clean, all of our planned school work was done, the dog had been fed 5 days in a row and I still had my sanity. Needless to say, I think it's going to work out well.

We had to hit up Dr. Pott's office on Thursday to check on my sweet Klo. She started running a fever on Monday, no other symptoms, just a fever. I noticed her ears seemed to be sensitive so I was thinking she had an ear infection. By the time we got to the doctor Thursday, her fever was gone and she was back to her old smiley self. Must've just been a virus, something that needed to run it's course. It has been so great to see her smiles again!

And since Little Miss was feeling better, we headed over to my friend's house to play dress up again and take some more sweet pictures. Want to see one? Check out my Favorite Snap down there at the bottom.

And by the way. When you can't find your baby, check your oldest ones room. I walked in to get Klo up from her nap on Friday and she was gone. I go into Kollin's room and find this sweet sight. The two of them on his bed, him talking all about his baseball cards and sharing them with her.

This week I also got some one on one time with Kollin. This is another thing I am loving about our new schedules, we have added in one on one time with Kollin, Kolt and Kruz throughout the month. I took Kollin to karate this week, by myself, which never happens. And we shared some cheese dip at Mexican and talked. It was nice. So nice. And I taught him one of my inner kid secrets: the one where you scrunch up the straw paper really tight, drip water on it and watch it grow. Anybody else remember that one? Well he was pretty impressed.

Our family got bigger this week too! We added a new cousin, sweet Baby Brooks to the crazy bunch! Isn't he a doll?

School This Week -

This week we started our newest box of Mother Goose Time and are blasting off into space! Last month was so off for us and we missed a ton of Mother Goose Time. And by missed I mean we didn't get to do very many of the activities and we missed it. Like a lot. So this month we are learning about space, which can really be exciting for all age groups. I love to see Kollin and Kolt be able to learn as much with Kruz and Kohen on the same theme. We started the week off by opening our Balancing Moon, which has been entertainment in our house for hours this week! If you have tots and preschoolers, you need one of these things! Seriously. We made our stars, which was a favorite project from this week.

Two things here. Number one: I love to see Kruz still wearing his Christmas PJs. And number two: Glitter will be the death of me.

Along with a new Mother Goose Time theme, came moving onto our next PACE Math Book. This curriculum was new for us this year and we are loving it! I think we have found a favorite!

Outings -

We finally had some nicer weather this week, so we hit up the park on Friday for Family Day! A little muddy from the rain earlier in the week, but this Momma survived! We topped off our Friday afternoon with some potato soup from O'Charley's - one of my favorites!

I love to see the husband with a kid on each side.

Conversation Of The Week -

Kollin: Mommy. Daddy says whatever I am now, is what I will become. Does that mean I'm going to jail when I get older?!?

Mommy: ...

Favorite Snap -

To My Weeping Mommas ...

2015-02-20T10:16:00.004-05:00

I sat on the couch and wept.

How could it be that after so much effort and time that my world seemed to be crumbling right beneath me?

How could it be after nearly 12 years of marriage that I looked at my husband some days and wondered who he was and where our sappy love had went to?

How could it be after pouring into my children day in and day out there was still a struggle with respect, obedience and making the right choices everyday?

How?

I sat on the couch and wept. I was in one of the most vulnerable states I had ever been in in my life. I knew no one in the flesh could give me the answer I needed to hear. The answer I needed for my spirit.

It was nothing my husband could say. It was nothing my preacher could say. It was nothing my best friend could say.

Through tear filled eyes, I reached over and grabbed the Bible sitting beside the lamp in our living room.

"Show me, Lord. Show me." I began to whisper over and over again as I gripped His Word.

And as if my fingers had no control anymore, I began to flip to Jeremiah.

My eyes began to see, my mind began to read, my heart began to fill.

"Cries of fear are heard - terror not peace."

"It will be a time of trouble ... but you will be saved out of it."

"Do not fear ... do not be dismayed."

"There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you. All your allies have forgotten you; they care nothing for you."

When I first hit the couch in pure defeat, I felt so alone. I felt as though no one understood me or even knew for that matter just how abandoned and isolated I felt. Now I knew there was One who did understand me. He saw my tears. He heard my cries.

"I will restore you to health and heal your wounds."

"I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's tents and have compassion on his dwellings."

"I will add to their numbers and they will not be decreased."

"I will come to give you rest ..."

"I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt."

He began to show me what my future would look like.

"They will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord - the grain, the new wine, the oil."

"They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more."

"I will turn your mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow."

I stopped there though, thinking I had what I needed to pick up the pieces. And still I wept. My heart needed more. I needed something just for the Momma in me.

And just as God saw Rachel weeping so many years ago and comforted her with these words, He saw me in my own mess and used these same words to calm me too.

"Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded."

There it was. Above all I had read, this was the yummy icing on the most delicious cake I had ever eaten.

Mommas.

Our work will be rewarded.

The late night feedings.

The potty training.

The hours of school work we help with.

The sock folding.

The mundane task of sweeping and resweeping and sweeping again. In one day.

The thousands of diapers we change.

The disciplining.

The books we read over and over.

The tying of shoes.

The loading and unloading and loading and unloading of the dishwasher.

The thousands of bowls of cereal we make.

The mouths we wipe.

The same toys we clean up over and over and over again.

The refereeing we do.

The vacuuming.

The prayers we pray for them.

The devotions we read to them.

Our work will be rewarded.

My work will be rewarded.

Your work will be rewarded.

So to my weeping Mommas, know your cries are heard, know you will be restored and your work will be rewarded.